Ulivo

Closed permanently.

We were invited here by family for a birthday dinner and the experience was horrible.
When we arrived the hostess just stared at me. I saw the coat rack and hung up my coat and then walked myself to the table. Kind of how I do things at home when I’m not paying to be greeted and «hosted».
I sat down and we were waiting for one other person. If the restaurant was full I would understand pushing us to order but we were the ONLY table in there at the time. The guest of honor asked the server to give us a few minutes. She came back 90 seconds later and said to us — «ok. What does everyone want?» Her «I am in Philly and you people obviously don’t live in the city so I’m better than you attitude» was written all over her sourpuss face.
I asked a question about what «pomarola» is … I lived in Italy for years, worked in a restaurant there and NEVER heard of this word before. Her response — a snarky giggle and «its a chunky tomato sauce. With vegetables in it. You’ll like it».
My bro-​in-​law asked the server to make a recommendation btw two dishes and her response — «either. There are both good». Wtf? This is a pet peeve of mine — it is your JOB to help us navigate the menu. I can write down dishes and walk plates to the table myself.
The highlight was the actual food — good portions and yummy. Good gluten free and vegetarian options.
The meal ended and you would have thought that the restaurant was packed with a line of people waiting at the door. We were visiting with our relatives and enjoying our wine after dinner while they brought the bill and cleared the table. The ENTIRE TABLE including my wine glass that I was drinking from and a bottle that still had ¼ left in it. We were not disruptive, loud or anything more than a civilized groups of adults ranging from 30 – 68 who were spending 10 – 15 min post dinner catching up. It was OUTRAGEOUS that they would do this.
I would steer clear of this place unless they clear out the front of the house and replace with new people. If I want to hang around snobs who treat you poorly, I certainly don’t want to PAY for it.
Do yourself a favor — go to one of the other amazing BYOs in Philly where the service and food is sure to beat this place.

The food here is ok and the prices are a little expensive for how much food you get and the service you get.
The menu was pretty small as well.
Bread and olive oil was sub-​par.
The gnocchi was really good. Light fluffy and paired with a delicious sauce.
The short rib and seabass were good but not great.
Dessert was a waste of money and calories. Their budino is crap compared to Barbuzzos.
Come for the gnocchi

Where do I start regarding this NIGHTMARE? So about 2 ½ weeks before my 30^th birthday, my boyfriend made reservations for 10 people based on the good reviews on here.
More of my friends wanted to join the dinner party so about 12 days before the actual date– my bf attempted to modify the reservation to add 7 people and was told that this was impossible to do and the reservation would have to be moved from 8:15 to 9pm to accommodate everyone. Now this would have been understandable if they didn’t also have a 10 person table reservation open on open table for 8:30pm the same night (so a 15 minute difference from the reservation we already had and the second one we booked). He was told that they usually try to take larger parties either in the beginning of the night or the end. Ummm… on what planet does a restaurant who takes reservations not accommodate a large reservation if they have the available space on a Saturday night? Odd.
So finally after 3 phone calls attempting to get our reservations set– we finally get our reservation for 17 people for 8:45 (because obviously 15 minutes makes such a huge difference esp. with a byob– sarcasm intended). What a hassle.
The day of the dinner party brought some of the worst weather the area has seen all year so many of my friends who were traveling from various areas were unable to make it. My boyfriend phoned the restaurant earlier in the day and gave them a heads up that there might be less people than originally expected because of the weather and he was told that we might be charged for the extra seats. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Absolutely ridiculous.
Fast forward to the dinner– a small group of us walk in together on time to an almost completely empty restaurant (not surprising given the treacherous weather) and we are met with a blank stare from the hostess. No «Hi how are you guys tonight?» No «Are you here for the party or meeting people here?» Nothing. Good thing my one friend was already seated so we knew where to sit.
Ok on to some of the RUDEST service I have ever had in Philadelphia that I can remember. The server approaches our table gruffly and her sour attitude is immediately noticed by the entire table. (I’m sorry does our sheer presence here annoy you?!).
Way to put a damper on the mood. She tries to convince us to go for a family style selection which is «ideal for large tables». Did I mention that we are now 8 people? Since when is an 8 top considered a large group? We politely decline and order appetizers and entrees individually instead. Nothing on the menu is explained to us at all so when the $ 12 mozzarella appetizer comes out, the tiny portion of one slice of Mozzarella is sort of shocking. Delicious but overpriced for the portion.
We are periodically brought out bread and olive oil– which is wonderful but only a relatively small bread plate for 8 of us when it would have been easily remedied by bringing two plates of bread out (keep in mind the restaurant was almost completely empty so this can’t be chalked up to busyness). Several times we had to ask for our wine bottles to be opened and were met with some attitude– I have never had this problem at any of the other byobs in the area EVER, in fact quite the opposite.
The gnocchi I had was very good and most of the other guests seemed to enjoy their other dishes so two stars for the food alone.
Oh and let’s not forget the automatic gratuity that was added into the bill– 20% for some of the sourest, snottiest service I’ve ever experienced. I was a server for 12 years at various different restaurants so I’m an extremely generous tipper if the service warrants but this was one of the only times that I was actually livid that I had to pay an auto-​grat.
I was so embarrassed that we had chosen this place with so many other fantastic options in the area like Cucina Forte (which is a smaller byob but with equal if not better food and FAR more friendly and accommodating).
NEVER AGAIN and I will be warning all my friends in the neighborhood to steer clear until they get their service act together. Very unfortunate.

Decided to venture out into another part of Philly for Valentine’s Day. I usually eat in center city more for convenience. This place did not disappoint at all. This place has the feel of a local place bc it’s right there on the corner of the intersection right in the Queen Village neighborhood. We were seated very quickly. This place is BYOB, though I’m not a big wine drinker.
Our dinner lived up to the hype. Appetizer was bruschetta which was really good. Our dinners were awesome. My girlfriend had spaghetti with scallions, spinach, and mussels. I had the chicken alla matte with potatoes and zucchini. Portions were perfect. This place was awesomeI can’t wait for my next visit.

Gnocchi is the BOMBBBB! Melt into mouth mmmm we had a LARGE party they were super flexible and accommodating. Love the byo and let us bring in our own desserts very yummy! Brussels sprouts delish. Bathroom is freezing the heat blasts then it’s cold otherwise great!

Ulivo quietly, without high-​profile fanfare, goes about its business of providing top-​notch cuisine. I and family have been going there since it opened, approx. twice per year, and have consistently had memorable meals. We went yesterday evening, and the ricotto gnocchi were superb, and the fried polenta with pepper relish was shared and fully enjoyed by all. The cheese plate (incl. gorgonzola dolce, pecorino and fig compore), ravioli agnolotti and rigatoni ragoti were consumed with a 2007 Perusso Barolo. A dessert must-​try is the affogato. On the basis of this consistent excellence, I am compelled to give Ulivo 5 stars. Bravo Ulivo!

Had a fantastic meal. Kids loved it too.
The gnocchi is to die for. Flat iron steak was good — the potatoes that came with it were amazing. The ragu got wiped clean as did the spaghetti. Desserts were good as well — so save room for the gelato and the espresso drink.
And it’s a BYOB — definitely going back more often

Dinner reservation for 5 long-​time friends on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We had a great time and a delicious meal. We shared 3 appetizers and each got an entrée. I thought the portions were perfect in size, although some might say too big? I thought it was great.

This is a great little byob in queen village. The pastas are so good and filling. Gnocchi was fluffy and had a delicious truffle sauce. Can be a little loud when it’s filled with diners, but on a weeknight it’s quiet and cozy. Staff has always been nice and attentive.

I’m not one to place a heavy emphasis on my birthday mostly because it falls between Thanksgiving and Christmas and growing up meant that when birthday parties really started to mean something (middle school/​high school) that I had to be conscious of friends budgets drawing near to the holiday season. With that mindset in place, I’ve never gone out of my way to plan anything extravagant but have always valued great friends around a table sharing wine and having a few good laughs. The last two years I have booked a table in my neighborhood at Ulivo because not only is it close, but their food is great, they’re BYO, and they’ve always been more than accommodating.
Last year my lady loves and I kicked off the evening around the corner at Lacquer Lounge for a little pampering and boozing before dinner and finished the night at Ela so truth be told, most of dinner and onward was a blur. This year however, turning 30 meant having a bigger dinner with more friends and given that this would be taking place the Sunday after Thanksgiving, needed to find a restaurant that could seat us all and be flexible on the menu. After a few calls to other neighborhood restaurants I realized that it was going to be a challenge finding a spot that had availability for close to 20, but that also didn’t demand us to participate in a multi-​course tasting menu. My friends are not cheap by any means and would have made the table worth their waiters while, but that was not my decision to make and so at the last minute I decided to give Ulivo a shot to do a 29^th birthday remix.
When discussing options with the restaurant on how to handle a party of 18 they suggested doing family style appetizers and an abbreviated entrée menu. My only requests were that the (excuse my french) bomb ass gnocchi with truffle butter made it onto the menu, as well as the hanger steak because many of the guys are strict carnivores; all was taken into consideration and we arrived at 6:00 to a menu that showcased 5 appetizers including: a raddichio and apple salad that even my boyfriend ate (an absolute shock), fresh mozzarella with roasted peppers, a salumi/​cheese board, loads of olives and spiced almonds, breads and olive oils, and orrechiette with a delicious lamb ragu. My only complaint on appetizers was that the lamb ragu came on one plate for each of our two tables as opposed to the three or four for every other appetizer. With the pasta only on the one plate and no notice from the servers that this was the only dish not to be served in multiples, not everyone had the chance to try it. I guess that’s a small price to pay, they didn’t seem terribly upset by it, but I still would have liked for them to have had their share. Dinner options were their gnocchi with truffle butter and spinach, I want to say striped bass with maitake mushrooms but I could be way off (I only tried the mushrooms off of Aaliyah P’s plate and they were delicious), their well known chicken alla matone (though I don’t think anyone ordered it), and a hanger steak with crispy potatoes. I honestly think that 14 of the 18 in attendance ordered the gnocchi and no one was disappointed.
Dinner was capped off with orders of sorbet and coffee, they serve ReAnimator a local favorite in Philadelphia, and everyone left with full stomachs, happy wine buzzes and I got exactly what I wanted… my favorite people around two big tables at a nice neighborhood BYO. Thanks Ulivo for doing birthdays right two years in a row!

We had a private dinner here for about 50 people and it was outstanding. The owner Joe worked with us on the menu, courses, alcohol, etc. He was very reachable through email and extremely helpful.
Food is fantastic, we had polenta cucchiaio and risotto fritters as starters, gnocchi and ziti as pasta, and chicken mattone/​short rib/​striped bass as entrees. Got compliments for all, but gnocchi and chicken were my favorites.
Great place for a private event or for BYO on a weekend night. Recommend.

Great little restaurant on East Passyunk. Went with my parents for dinner and we all really enjoyed our main courses of ricotta gnocchi (must order-​little pillows of heaven) and the chicken, which our server suggested. Love that it’s BYOB, and service was wonderful. Only complaint was the broccoli rabe was too smokey, tasted burnt, but they took it off our bill, so no harm done. Definitely worth trying, especially for the menu options and affordable prices.

I dined with 4 other people on a Saturday night. I requested a quieter table and we were given one which is huge (thank you ulivo!) and shows how accommodating this restaurant is. the décor is clean, simple and comfortable and our food was very tasty. i liked that there were a good assortment of things to share as a table, as well as good assortment of items on the menu (varying meats, pasta, salads) to please everyone (often difficult with my group).
make a reservation, get a bottle of wine and go here!

We ate at Ulivo on Saturday night. It was really good food and we enjoyed our meals. The spiced almonds were very spiced, so make sure you like alot of spices before ordering. The bread that comes with them is delicious. Also, the sweet corn side is so incredibly good. I highly recommend.
For entrees I got the Monkfish dish. I talked to the waitress about this and was telling her how indecisive I was about the Monkfish or the Gnocchi’s. I chose the Monkfish. I was thinking to go a little lighter rather than a whole plate of pasta. Well I was sort of wrong because it was a whole plate of pasta with Monkfish mixed in. Don’t get me wrong it was delicious, I was just not prepared for a whole plate of pasta.
The dessert was amazing and all we got was the sorbetto.
I recommend this place. Next time I will get the gnocchi’s instead as I have heard it is their signature dish :)

Italian is hard to mess up and Ulivo does a good job in not messing it up. The food here is great, go eat there, the taste will leave you happy. The portion, however, will not. The menu looks reasonably priced but all the dishes are child-​portioned. If the portion size and price did not deceive the diner, I would happily give this place another star.

Great meal there, cozy but not cramped inside which is hard to find in an Italian BYO in this city. Crispy skate was excellent. The foie gras and pear agnolotti special was truly divine– we had it as a shared appetizer.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Ulivo. Having great Italian food next door to us, it’s hard to try a new Italian place, but we heard good things about this place.
We got reservations relatively easily (I think because of the holiday weekend) and sat down to a lovely atmosphere. Our waitress (can’t remember her name, but she had pink hair). Was very nice, attentive, and knowledgeable.
For appetizers we ordered the buffalo mozzarella and the prosciutto dish. Both were fantastic, but we preferred the mozzarella. It was extremely fresh and the flavors paired well together.
We both ordered pasta for the main meal. He ordered the gnocchi (supposedly some of the best around) and I ordered the special. Mine was the clear winner. It was a rigatoni with a brown butter and sweet corn sauce with chanterelle mushrooms. I could have eaten 3 servings of that. The gnocchi was good as well, but couldn’t compare to how fantastic my dish was.
For dessert we shared a blueberry cake with a coconut crème. The cake tasted like a blueberry muffin (in a good way!) and I think I could have drank a cup of that coconut crème.
Overall we had a very nice meal and it was pretty affordable as well. I think if we had gone for «main» dishes, we would have spent a bit more, but we are pasta people to begin with.

Debated 4 stars here, but if I compare it against what I consider somewhat similar places down here (August, Kris) who I gave 4 stars Ulivo just isn’t in that same class.
I’ll get the bad out of the way first. Grilled octopus appetizer. I always try to order octopus. Partly because I know it is a challenge to prepare thus a good indicator of the kitchen. The upside with octopus is very high, the downside very low. And paired with something as strong as grapefruit? Damn, if they pull this off I will give them huge props. They didn’t. At all. Octopus was very chewy, sinewy and the grapefruit overpowered everything. It was bad. Luckily the rest of the meal didn’t follow suit but see how I gave this appetizer it’s own paragraph? Yeah, that should tell you something.
My girlfriend had an app that was on special that night, a foie gras arancini. It was really, really well done. I only had a bite but she loved it and my bite was thoroughly enjoyed. For main course she had the gnocchi. Wow. Think I could’ve eaten it with a straw it was so light. Some of the best I’ve ever had. Too much truffle oil? Probably, but whatever. I had a special pasta on the menu with pulled lamb and I forget what else. I thought it was good, large portion but not in the class of her gnocchi or arancini.
Service was very, very good. Engaging, attentive but not intrusive. Just what it should be. Overall a 3.5 but that octopus really killed it for me.

It’s hard to say, friends. Is it fair to review a restaurant within a week of their opening? While I give this BYOB three stars, I do think it has potential to be a four-​star establishment.
Our hostess, Simone, was extremely sweet and helpful. She set up our table (we had made a reservation) and we were seating within just a few minutes of arriving. While we did have to wait a bit for wine/​water glasses, we were given baskets of foccacia and small dishes of olive oil immediately. Foreshadowing, perhaps: even the servers knew the food was going to take a long time.
I ordered the gnocchi and a side of kale. Zack ordered the spaghetti and arugula salad. Jim ordered the salmon. Becca ordered the ravioli, as did Brian.
We ate our bread, poured our wine and waited… for almost an hour. Our server brought us more bread, and spiced almonds to hold us over, which was nice. I hold nothing against the folks at Ulivo for taking such a long time with the food. Again, they had been open for a week.
Our server came out to tell us that there was only enough ravioli left for one order, and so Becca and Brian decided to split it, along with an entrée dish. «Surprise us,» said Becca. The server chose the steak. Nice.
My gnocchi, however plentiful (there must have been at least 20 on my plate for a whopping $ 14), was not particularly flavorful. They were mushy, and I had a hard time tasting the truffle oil. My side of kale was sauteed with onions and yellow raisins and yeah, it sounds a little odd, but it was delicious.
Zack’s plate of spaghetti ($ 12) was bigger than his head, and he devoured his salad. The steak got rave reviews, as did the ravioli (though there was a complaint that they were barely stuffed) and though Jim loved his salmon, there was no side. Even the steak came with fried potatoes. The $ 19 salmon entrée was just a filet of salmon. That’s it. Jim wasn’t too happy about that one.
Inside, there are high ceilings and crown molding and soft, warm, green tones. I liked the atmosphere but Ulivo still has a few kinks to work out for sure.